# 1987 Cleveland Browns season

The 1987 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 38th season in the National Football League.
Led by another 3,000-yard season from Bernie Kosar, the Browns captured their third-straight AFC Central crown. In the divisional playoffs, against the Indianapolis Colts at Municipal Stadium, the Browns routed the Colts 38–21 to advance to their second-straight AFC Championship game. For the second year in a row, the Browns were matched up against the Denver Broncos for a trip to Super Bowl XXII. The Browns fell behind early at Mile High Stadium, as the Broncos roared out to a big halftime lead. However, the Browns scored 30 points in the second half, and drove down the field in the late fourth quarter with a chance to score a game-tying touchdown. With 1:12 left in the game, RB Earnest Byner was stripped of the ball at the 2-yard line by Broncos' defensive back Jeremiah Castille in a play since dubbed The Fumble. Denver ran down the clock and took an intentional safety with 8 seconds left, and the Browns fell 38–33. Denver returned to the Super Bowl for a second straight year at the expense of the Browns.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1987 Cleveland Browns draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Mike Junkin | Linebacker | Duke | from San Diego |
| 2 | 32 | Gregg Rakoczy | Center | Miami (FL) | from San Diego |
| 3 | 80 | Tim Manoa | Fullback | Penn State | |
| 3 | 82 | Jeff Jaeger * | Kicker | Washington | |
| 6 | 165 | Stephen Braggs | Defensive back | Texas | |
| 8 | 220 | Steve Bullitt | Linebacker | Texas A&M | |
| 10 | 276 | Frank Winters * | Center | Western Illinois | |
| 11 | 303 | Larry Brewton | Defensive back | Temple | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

### Roster
## Schedule
### Regular season

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 13 | at New Orleans Saints | L 21–28 | 0–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 59,900 | Recap |
| 2 | September 20 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 34–10 | 1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 79,543 | Recap |
| 3 | September 28 | Denver Broncos | canceled | 1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | NFL strike | NFL strike |
| 4 | October 4 | at New England Patriots | W 20–10 | 2–1 | Sullivan Stadium | 14,830 | Recap |
| 5 | October 11 | Houston Oilers | L 10–15 | 2–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 38,927 | Recap |
| 6 | October 18 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 34–0 | 3–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 40,179 | Recap |
| 7 | October 26 | Los Angeles Rams | W 30–17 | 4–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 76,933 | Recap |
| 8 | November 1 | at San Diego Chargers | L 24–27 | 4–3 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 55,381 | Recap |
| 9 | November 8 | Atlanta Falcons | W 38–3 | 5–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 71,135 | Recap |
| 10 | November 15 | Buffalo Bills | W 27–21 | 6–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,409 | Recap |
| 11 | November 22 | at Houston Oilers | W 40–7 | 7–3 | Houston Astrodome | 51,161 | Recap |
| 12 | November 29 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 24–38 | 7–4 | Candlestick Park | 60,248 | Recap |
| 13 | December 6 | Indianapolis Colts | L 7–9 | 7–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 70,661 | Recap |
| 14 | December 13 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 38–24 | 8–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,331 | Recap |
| 15 | December 20 | at Los Angeles Raiders | W 24–17 | 9–5 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 40,275 | Recap |
| 16 | December 26 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 19–13 | 10–5 | Three Rivers Stadium | 56,394 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Game summaries
### Week 9: vs. Atlanta

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Browns | 0 | 14 | 21 | 3 | 38 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: November 8
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 54 °F or 12.2 °C, relative humidity 48%, wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)
* Game attendance: 71,135
* Referee: Bob McElwee
* TV announcers (CBS): Tim Brant (play–by–play) and Hank Stram (color commentator)
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring plays
Second quarter
CLE (6:50) – Slaughter 54 yard pass from Kosar (Jaeger kick) Browns 7, Falcons 0
CLE (11:04) – Mack 1 yard rush (Jaeger kick) Browns 14, Falcons 0
ATL (15:00) – Luckhurst 42 yard field goal Browns 14, Falcons 3
Third quarter
CLE (4:05) – Byner 3 yard rush (Jaeger kick) Browns 21, Falcons 3
CLE (8:59) – Byner 5 yard rush (Jaeger kick) Browns 28, Falcons 3
CLE (12:45) – Byner 4 yard pass from Kosar (Jaeger kick) Browns 35, Falcons 3
Fourth quarter
CLE (9:41) – Jaeger 38 yard field goal Browns 38, Falcons 3
Top passers
ATL – Scott Campbell 15/22, 169 yds, 1 INT
CLE – Bernie Kosar 13/23, 192 yds, 2 TD
Top rushers
ATL – Gerald Riggs 16 carr, 93 yds
CLE – Kevin Mack 18 carr, 52 yds, 1 TD
Top receivers
ATL – Aubrey Matthews 5 rec, 70 yds
CLE – Earnest Byner 4 rec, 40 yds, 1 TD
Turnovers
ATL – 2
CLE – 1 :

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| Divisional | January 9, 1988 | Indianapolis Colts (3) | W 38–21 | 1–0 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,586 | Recap |
| AFC Championship | January 17, 1988 | at Denver Broncos (2) | L 33–38 | 1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 75,993 | Recap |
AFC Divisional Game
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Browns | 7 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 38 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: January 9, 1988
* Game time: 12:30 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 16 °F or −8.9 °C, relative humidity 71%, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV: NBC
* Boxscore
AFC Championship game
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 3 | 21 | 9 | 33 |
| Broncos | 14 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 38 |
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
* Date: January 17, 1988
* Game time: 4 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 29 °F or −1.7 °C, relative humidity 63%, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* TV: NBC Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen
* Boxscore

## Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns$^{(2)}$ | 10 | 5 | 0 | .667 | 5–1 | 8–3 | 390 | 239 | W3 |
| Houston Oilers$^{(4)}$ | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 5–1 | 7–4 | 345 | 349 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 2–4 | 6–5 | 285 | 299 | L2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 11 | 0 | .267 | 0–6 | 3–9 | 285 | 370 | L3 |